You’ll not see too many blog entries like this I would imagine as they end up binned for fear of embarassment – as I don’t work for anyone else – I could care less about making a fool of myself. In my home office I have a motion sensor attached to Home Assistant to turn the lights on when I’m in the office and turn them off when I’m out (or not moved) for a while.
SO, I was convinced I’d used a small sensor on the wall near the door – and recently my wife has been griping that the lights are not working predictably. I sat down tonight, confident that I’d crack this in no time – maybe a new battery? It didn’t work out that simply? Firstly I checked where I thought the sensor was and found THIS.
For the LIFE of me I could not figure out what it is – and no ID on it. I could find no access to a battery (which would have to be awfully slim) and no info on what it is – odd for a man who blogs everything to not have a photo somewhere!!
I went through my blog entries – no reference to it – yet there this THING was, sitting exactly where I’d expect the motion sensor to be. Armed with these photos you may well have twigged to what I missed when writing this entry. Photo below gives a clue…
As well as the obvious issue above, my Home Assistant automation says I’m using a Sonoff SNZB-03P – I know all about that but I can’t find that sensor either – maybe I awoke in an alternative universe this morning – who knows. Just had my wife look around my overcrowded office and she can’t see a Sonoff SNZB-03P either.
I did get sidetracked and find an old Sonoff SNZB-03 (which looks NOTHING like the SNZB-03P) on the wall, now removed – it’s one of their earlier efforts using a CR2450 battery – supposed to last for maybe 2-3 years – well, it didn’t – not even remotely. Here it is on the right…
I seem to remember pulling one of those out of the bathroom for the same reason – short battery life. Anyway – just checked – maybe a year, battery DEAD. If you;re very young, maybe a year is a long time – the older you get, the shorter a year seems – 5 year battery life would be good. Remember Planet of the Apes? – the batteries in the ancient spaceship were still intact? We can’t even REMOTELY achieve that.
Help is at hand, I have a Shelly Motion device which has been sitting doing nothing – I’m about to mount that on the wall with it’s included sticky pad and change the automation to match – that should do it – but perhaps this underscores the importance of keeping notes… ah and this time – a LABEL on the underside. Why? Well, the Shelly Motion device is clearly marked “Shelly Motion” on the box – and on the device itself – Shelly Blu Motion (and the unit references the battery – another not-cheap, more powerful alternative to the more common CR2032).. mind you that label ends up hidden behind the adhesive label – another triumph of form over function.
Yet what do we see in Home Assistant? Bear with me…. Not “Shelly Blu Motion” but “BT HOME 1CCA” – thankfully my memory isn’t THAT BAD – also I’d written that ID on the box when I tested it. WOW, not even REMOTELY like “Shelly Blu Motion”. I see a better label on the device in my future – maybe on the underside. While I’m here it gets worse – my first Shelly Home device has an automatic name BTHOME 1CCA – the second device has the automatic name SMBO-003Z 6EDC – So I tried renaming the devices in Home Assistant – for example the first one to SHELLYMOTION1 – HA allowed renaming the device but then would NOT allow renaming its entities as the would not contain BTHOME 1CCA. YET in the Shelly APP they are called Blu Motion 1 and 2. Someone somewhere has screwed up.
But this is all MOOT, I was mootching around our second fridge – which is situated in my office near the door when I discovered THIS device (right) … YES it’s the SNZB-03P, main unit anyway anyway… found lying half-obscured amidst the wires and assorted detritis on top of the fridge. Now why couldn’t Sonoff have made life easier by putting some ID on the base – “SNZB-03P Base” would have saved me some embarrassment.
That device above who’s purpose I could not fathom is simply the magnetic base for the SNZB-03P (the USB-powered SNZB-06P has the same base).
Lets’ take this opportunity to check the battery.
Battery CR2477 – 3.03v after several months. Ok, that’ll do me. Disassembly is easy – rotate the bottom round half off – re-assembly nearly as easy but when rotating the base back, I needed a flat-blade screwdriver to take it all the way – I could have used a coin. The magnet is strong so how on EARTH the unit (not the adhesively-mounted base) fell of the wall is anyone’s guess.
Everything back to normal – if the lights go off – I’ve been sitting thinking for too long – a quick wave of the hands restores lighting and my monitors – good job I’m not paid by the hour – this has taken me most of the night to sort and write about:-)
And why can’t devices let us know audibly when they trigger? Battery life? Erm, no – see this “Safe Mini Drive” for cars – warns you of accidents and reports them via your phone to a database – and speed cameras) – been sitting in my frequently-opened desk drawer without charging for well over a year, every time I open the drawer, I hear a little beep – I’m guessing it must be light sensitive too.
